i used to save the bows from year to year and tape them onto the packages, as the sticky stuff was long gone. now my DIL gathers up all of the bows to save and reuse.

my DD and DIL have passed the same purple box with a gold bow back and forth for the last few years.

i LOVE gift bags for all occasions, and i always use tissue paper (usually white). i also have around 6 large felt drawstring bags decorated with various Christmas themes that i got at Michael's in an extreme sale.

but we wrap plenty of the boxes the old fashioned way with wrapping paper, bows, and tags.

i guess what i'm trying to say is that my wrapping style is to wrap all gifts in the way that is appropriate to that gift, and to the receiver. before gift bags became popular, just about everything went into a box...any kind of box, so they could be more easily wrapped.

oh, and i just have to share one of our traditions. we call it the Martha Stewart box. when my DD was 13 or 14, she used a gorgeous green, burgundy, and gold plaid paper on a paper box. the large kind that multiple reams of copy paper comes in. the top of the box was wrapped in gold foil, with a huge gold bow. we have used that box every year for the past 15 or 16 years. a new tag gets stuck onto the old one each year. the plaid paper is becoming a little tired, the top still looks great, but every time we start thinking about replacing the plaid paper so it looks better, we stop. why mess with tradition? yes it could look a little fresher, but there have been a lot of gifts, purchased and presented with much love, in that box.

It totally varies in our house. Depends on how tired people are, size and shape of gift, and if I really want to puzzle DH who love to pinch, poke, shake and squeeze.

We have a couple of really pretty iridescent boxes that are 20+ years old that still look good and make the rounds if there is an appropriate gift. I've got some beautiful paper that I may wrap some boxes in so that they are re-useable, because the paper is too nice to just toss.

I save bows, gift bags and some wrapping paper, but it is all trimmed before using again.

I also do gift bags for odd shape or size things. This year most everything was in gift bags because it was a very quiet Christmas. DH has bronchitis, Mom is still unpacking from her move, and I was just pooped.

I did have a lot of fun one year wrapping a double rifle case for DH. I took a bicycle size gift bag, put the case in it, poured in plastic packing peanuts till it filled the bottom third of the bag, tied a ribbon around the middle and poured in more packing peanuts, then tied the top. Sorta looked like a snowman. He never guessed that one.

I've also done my share of wrapping in retail when I worked in the jewelry store. The toughest one we did was a 100 pound mineral specimen. It took two of us to lift the box and we had to wrap it on the floor because it was too heavy for the table. Looked great when we were done though.

Every couple of years I go to the after Christmas sales and stock up on paper, ribbon, tags, and do dads to tape onto the packages. (I don't have to go this year, thank goodness.) I like every gift under the tree to be wrapped differently so I keep quite an assortment. I use some gift bags (have been recycling some for as long as fifteen years). I find that most Christmas wrap is in the red/green/silver/gold or white range so I am always on the lookout for blue/purple/and orange to add variety.

"Just a box with bright-colored paper,And the whole thing's topped with a bow.What's in it?What's in it?That's the point of the thing, not to know!"

I have to admit, I'd feel a bit let down to receive an unwrapped gift. I wouldn't think ill of the giver, but I love those few moments of "What on earth could this be?" I love the surprise, and just handing an item to someone takes away from that. If you want to be environmentally conscious, there are plenty of ways to do that, like using gift bags (that get reused dozens of times), or recycled paper, or the comics, or even a piece of fabric that a crafty recipient can do something with.

I wrap most presents in regular wrapping paper with the curly ribbons. I'll use a gift bag if I'm giving a present that consists of lots of little things, and I won't wrap them individually. I keep some tissue paper around to wrap awkwardly shaped items, because it makes it much easier.

The only way I think etiquette comes into this is in the sense of being mindful of the person you're giving the gift to. Giving a present wrapped with lots of ribbon and difficult knots might not be the best idea for a person with bad arthritis in their hands. Or if you have an environmentalist like the one mentioned above on your list, you probably don't want to upset them by giving them a present wrapped in tons of boxes, wrapping paper, tissue, ribbon and confetti. But for most people, I don't see how it could be rude or offensive to just wrap a present in any of the ways mentioned here.

Calbrini

I just use the rolls of wrapping paper fastened with sellotape. For the kids I use different coloured stuff so I dont get them mixed up and a more 'grown up' design (like holly or something) for everyone else. If I am giving booze as a gift then I use bottle gift bags.

I know people who spend ages wrapping gifts making them look perfect when realy I dont think anyone actually looks and thinks "Oh, how perfectly wrapped it is!".

I just use the rolls of wrapping paper fastened with sellotape. For the kids I use different coloured stuff so I dont get them mixed up and a

I know people who spend ages wrapping gifts making them look perfect when realy I dont think anyone actually looks and thinks "Oh, how perfectly wrapped it is!".

I'm sure most people say this about my elaborately wrapped gifts but I do it to please my own sense of aesthetics, so I'm fine.

I did just score some more wrapping paper that I might use next year instead of the stuff I've already bought. I do prefer solid-color paper to prints, and I got the most gorgeous glowy-olive paper at Target. It's going to look stunning with gold bows.

. . . . I love those few moments of "What on earth could this be?" I love the surprise. . . . But for most people, I don't see how it could be rude or offensive to just wrap a present in any of the ways mentioned here.

That's what I'm aiming for, when I get fancy. I want them to feel "fussed over" for a few moments, in ADDITION to being pleased w/ the spice rack in the box.

And I grew up in a family in which we all admired the wrapping from all angles before we opened the present.

And so I turned my nose up at gift bags for a long time. (Not that I thought they were *rude*; just that I knew "no present of mine would ever be in a gift bag!" LOL! They've grown on me, however.

Lately, I've left myself too little time, so I just wrap and write the name on the top in thick black marker.

My etiquette issue is, I'm not fond of the way that my IL's family opens presents--everybody all at once, in a big mob scene. So I get a stingy feeling when I wrap presents for them, and I won't use my favorite wrapping paper, bcs they won't admire its effect. And then I feel rude for feeling stingy w/ the wrapping paper.

But every year that I try to break through that, I end up grumpy seeing the presents just opened so quickly, and all my effort and "taste" wasted (i.e., nobody saying, "gee, what pretty paper!"), so I go back to using whatever's around. Some years I even deliberately buy "just some sort of Christmas wrapping paper that's really cheap" for their presents.

People *do* say "How pretty!" when they get a fancily wrapped present. In my IL's family, at bridal & baby showers, I go all out, and it gets commented on, room-wide, every time.

I bought a large roll of the super strong Reynolds wrap because of the box I used to mail Blanche her gifts. The postal service apparently has a major problem with people reusing boxes that have company names on them, which makes no sense whatsoever. The boxes Yves Rocher uses are way sturdier than the ones the postal service sells, so I wrapped the box in the strong foil before putting on the labels.

That gave me the not-so-brilliant idea to use the stuff on some of the larger items I gave to my other friend's family, but decided that doing this again would be restricted to large boxes, like board games. The creases are permanent and without having a really isolated place to do this and a table, it's a royal pain.

The amethyst necklace I made for Hilda was put into a gold jewelry-store-type cardboard box and tied with the metallic curling ribbon. The Caswell Massey six-pack for her husband was wrapped in the store (muted metallic gold paper with gold mesh ribbon). Everything else was wrapped in Christmas tissue. Package tag labels were peel-and-stick.

Years ago I was a Wrapzilla: All the same paper and bows, tags on the same theme (imported ecru foldovers with gold glitter and string). I do the gift bag and fluffed tissue thing now if presenting to a single individual; not practical if transporting 14 gifts to a friend's house.

I do tend to buy cards and paper on January 15th when they're 75% off, but there are lots of discount stores in my area that have the cool bags for almost nothing.

Receiving a fancy wrapped gift makes me feel extra special, whether it's paper wrapped or in a gift bag. However, for Christmas presents I just wrap and add a stick on bow or curling ribbon, because the packages either have to be mailed or I have 40+ to do for my large family. I fuss a bit more over their birthday gifts. I think a pretty bag with fresh tissue and ribbon is just as nice as a package.

My sister took that idea, and has her kids stamp her plain brown paper with gold and silver ink, with Christmas shapes during Christmas, various kid things for birthdays, etc. Her husband cuts a name out of metallic paper with sticky backing and attaches it to the top of the package.

My mother makes quilted, reusable gift bags. I love seeing the fabrics she finds. One in particular used to be the Christmas tablecloth until it got something on it that couldn't be removed. So Mom just cut out the stained bit and made bags from the rest. They're great for odd-shaped gifts like stuffed animals.